NEWSWORTHY
Several armed men attacked the headquarters of the National Oil Corp. (NOC) in the Libyan capital Monday and several blasts could be heard, a witness said. Gunfire could be heard as a security force allied to the Tripoli-based government arrived at the landmark building located ...
U.S. blocks UNSC request for frigate's return to Libya migrant mission, is mum on why
The United States has blocked a request for the U.N. Security Council to allow a Libyan navy vessel's return home to combat migrant smuggling, documents obtained by AFP on Thursday showed. The El Hani frigate was taking on water when it was sent to Malta ...
Migrants and asylum-seekers rescued while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe should not be sent back to Libya, where they risk "serious abuses," the U.N.'s human rights agency has warned. In an update to its official position on returns to Libya, the UNHCR warned ...
Cease-fire holds in Libya after Tripoli clashes kill scores: U.N.
Libyan authorities say more than a week of heavy fighting in the capital has come to a halt after the U.N. announced a cease-fire between the warring militias. The fighting between militias allied to the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli and an armed group from a ...
Facebook, Libya's main news source, said blocked in Tripoli and other cities as fighting rages
Facebook has been blocked in the Libyan capital of Tripoli and other cities, residents said on Monday as fighting between rival groups raged. Facebook is the main platform for news in Libya with officials, ministries and armed groups that effectively control the country posting statements ...
Even as the number of migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean to Europe has fallen sharply, the likelihood of dying during the dangerous voyage has risen significantly, the U.N. said Monday. Between January and July, more than 58,000 asylum seekers and migrants reached Europe's shores ...
Refugee trips across Mediterranean fall but risks surging: U.N. agency
The U.N. refugee agency says people smugglers are taking greater risks to ferry their human cargo toward Europe as Libya's coast guard intercepts more and more boats carrying migrants, increasing the likelihood that those on board may die during the Mediterranean journeys. That's one of ...
Italy hard-liner Matteo Salvini resists pressure to let migrants disembark
Italian far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Wednesday resisted increasing pressure to allow 177 migrants who have been held on a coast guard ship in a Sicilian port for two days to disembark. A public backlash against the seaborne newcomers helped put Salvini and his ...
Italy allows its ship with 177 rescued migrants to dock, ends standoff with Malta
Italy will let its coast guard ship carrying 177 migrants it rescued five days ago dock in Sicily, ending a standoff with Malta, its transport minister said on Monday, though it was not clear when and if the migrants would be allowed to disembark. The ...
Italy threatens to return migrants to Libya in new standoff as rescue ship drifts in limbo
Italy's firebrand interior minister threatened Sunday to return to Libya 177 migrants who have been aboard an Italian coast guard ship for days following another standoff with Malta. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini demanded that other European countries take in the migrants after his Maltese counterpart, ...
Libya condemns 45 militiamen to death for killings at 2011 demonstrations against Gadhafi
A Libyan court on Wednesday sentenced to death by firing squad 45 militiamen for killing demonstrators in Tripoli during the 2011 uprising against dictator Moammar Gadhafi, the justice ministry said. It was the highest number of death sentences passed by a Libyan court in a ...
Rescue ship Aquarius arrives in Malta after Europe migrant-sharing deal
The Aquarius rescue ship arrived in Malta on Wednesday after EU countries thrashed out a deal to take in the 141 migrants onboard, defusing another diplomatic standoff in the Mediterranean. Loud cheers could be heard from the ship as it pulled into the Grand Harbour ...
